Over 1 million pilgrims benefit from golf cart service at Grand Mosque during Ramadan    Visitors welcomed with Eid initiative at Thee Ain Heritage Village in Al-Baha    Tebuk emir reviews rain response in Tayma    Saudi Arabia considers rent cap as part of major real estate reforms    Messi's bodyguard banned from touchline at Inter Miami games    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Le Pen vows to appeal political ban, calls verdict a 'denial of democracy'    Death toll from Myanmar earthquake rises to 2,719 as rescue efforts continue    Russia, Ukraine trade blame over new energy strikes    Putin orders Russia's largest military call-up in over a decade    Albania hosts MWL chief for Eid sermon at largest mosque in the Balkans    Haramain High-Speed Railway transports over 1.2 million passengers during Ramadan    Saudi Transport Authority says passengers can ride for free if taxi meters are off    Ministry of Education forms 425 community partnerships with SR653 million impact    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Turkey's election board under pressure to explain Istanbul vote annulment
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 16 - 05 - 2019

Ten days after it annulled Turkey's most dramatic election upset in years, the country's electoral authority faces a barrage of questions from opposition parties who say there was no legal basis to cancel the vote.
The High Election Board said irregularities affected the outcome of the March 31 mayoral election in Istanbul, when the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) narrowly defeated President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party (AKP).
It ruled that the vote in Turkey's largest city and commercial hub, the biggest prize in the nationwide local elections, be re-run next month because some polling officials were not civil servants, as required by voting regulations.
The decision to reverse Erdogan's rare election setback was described by Turkey's Western allies as incomprehensible. Critics said one of the last checks on his ever-tighter hold on power had suffered a damaging blow.
"The most fundamental value of our political tradition is that the last word belongs to the national will, which is manifested in the ballot box," Erdogan's erstwhile ally Ahmet Davutoglu, a former AKP prime minister, said last week.
"The annulment decision has opened the way to damaging these fundamental values of ours."
Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president, winning more than a dozen elections.
He remains Turkey's dominant politician, but economic recession and a slump in the lira have eroded support for his Islamist-rooted AKP. The CHP argues that by refusing to accept any loss of power, he is dragging Turkey deeper into authoritarianism with the help of increasingly co-opted institutions such as the High Election Board (YSK).
"A game where those who come with elections don't leave with elections was approved by a gang influencing the YSK," CHP spokesman Faik Oztrak said last week. "A coup was carried out on the ballots, which are the last bastion of democracy."
Erdogan's party says it provided concrete evidence of wrongdoing in the electoral process and the election board acted solely on the information available. "The power of the ruling party was never used on the YSK," an AKP official said.
The AKP described the irregularities in the mayoral vote as "organized crime" which affected the outcome. The AKP has said the re-run of the mayoral election was aimed at ensuring the public will was reflected in the ballot.
The YSK decision was passed by a 7-4 majority. Its 11 members, all judges, are chosen by Turkey's two highest courts whose members are selected by a judicial council appointed partly by parliament and partly by the president.
The election board has yet to publish a detailed explanation for its decision. "When the reasoning is finished, we'll share it," YSK head Sadi Guven, who was part of the dissenting minority, told reporters on Wednesday.
In a May 6 statement, it said the ruling was based on the fact that some polling stations in Istanbul were "formed illegally by the district electoral board, and this issue impacted the results of the elections".
A day after the announcement, a Turkish lawyers group said the irregularities cited in the YSK ruling should have been challenged before the vote, when they were apparent.
The Union of Turkish Bar Associations said the YSK had also failed to explain how those violations had changed the result of the election, and the ruling contradicted several previous YSK decisions.
Two years ago the YSK angered Erdogan's opponents when it ruled, in the midst of voting on a tightly fought referendum to grant the president sweeping executive powers, that unstamped ballot papers would be accepted — a decision which the bar associations said lifted a safeguard against voter fraud.
Aylin Ozgul Kirmizioglu, one of the four party representatives who are allowed to observe YSK meetings, said she was stunned to hear one of the judges first support cancelling and re-running the election.
"When I heard the first annulment vote, I had the shock of my life," Kirmizioglu, from the opposition Iyi (Good) Party which was allied to the CHP, said. "I was truly very surprised and we, as the representatives, all looked at each other to see if we had heard right."
Kirmizioglu said it was illogical for the YSK to rule the mayoral election invalid when three other votes for local councils and administrators submitted in the same envelopes at the same polling stations on the same day were deemed valid.
The AKP argued it was reasonable to focus on the mayoral election because the victory margin — 13,000 votes in a turnout of nearly 9 million — was so thin.
Kirmizioglu said: "It's very wrong to expect the public to understand this, since even we as lawyers don't get it.
"If a legal rule is against logic, then it's not legal". — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.